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At World Snail Racing Championship, A Good Slime Is Had By All

The race begins with the words, "Ready, steady slow!"
Reuters

CONGHAM, England (Reuters) - The race starter stood up and shouted: “Ready, steady, slow!” The crowd cheered, but the competitors remained stuck at the start line. Welcome to the world snail racing championship.

More than 150 snails took part in the annual event, held at a summer fete in Norfolk, eastern England on Saturday where a silver tankard stuffed with lettuce leaves was the prize.

The snails are placed on a special damp cloth marked with three concentric circles and the creatures race 13 inches (33 cm) to the outer ring.

“We take this seriously,” snail racer John McClean told Reuters.

“We have got training slopes. We look at diet, we are drug compliant as well. It is the whole thing when you look at elite sports.”

The competition has been held since the 1960s with each race lasting several minutes. Competitors are able to select a snail from the organizers’ stash or bring their own.

Jo Waterfield from the nearby village of Grimston found the eventual winner among her plants.

“I pulled him out this morning and told him if he didn’t win I would squash him,” Waterfield told Reuters.

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Before You Go

Guinness World Record Athletes
Heaviest Living Athlete(01 of08)
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The heaviest living athlete in the world is sumo wrestler Emmanuel 'Manny' Yarborough, of Rahway, New Jersey. He stands 6ft 8in tall and weighs a colossal 704lb. He was introduced to the sport by his judo coach and seven years later, he is ranked number one in the Open Sumo Wrestling Category for Amateurs. (credit:Guinness World Records)
Farthest Throw of a Person(02 of08)
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Jonathan Macfarlane (New Zealand) threw Andrew Rainford a distance of 4.87 meters (15 ft 11 in) on the set of NZ Smashes Guinness World Records at the Sylvia Park shopping mall in Auckland, New Zealand, on July 25, 2009. (credit:Guinness World Records)
Most Passes of a Giant Volleyball(03 of08)
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The most consecutive passes of a giant volleyball is 582 and was set by Vanessa Sheridan and Paddy Bunce (both from the United Kingdom) during Capital Breakfast with Johnny Vaughan, Capital Radio, London, UK on November 9, 2006 as part of Guinness World Records Day. (credit:Guinness World Records)
Fastest Mile on Spring Loaded Stilts(04 of08)
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The fastest mile covered on spring loaded stilts is 7 min 13 sec set by Ashrita Furman (USA) at the TSV 1865 Dachau Sports Club in Dachau, Germany, on March 30, 2008. (credit:Guinness World Records)
Longest Beach Volleyball Marathon(05 of08)
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The longest beach volleyball marathon lasted 25 hr 39 min achieved by Mateusz Baca, Sebastian Lüdke, Tomasz Olszak, and Wojciech Kurczyński (all Germans) in Görlitz, Germany, on July 3-4, 2010. The attempt was made at the Rosenhof sports and leisure center by the four members of sports club VfB Görlitz. (credit:Guinness World Records)
Longest Professional Wrestling Match(06 of08)
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The longest professional wrestling match lasted 12 hours and was promoted by Shockwave Impact Wrestling as the Ultimate Iron Man Match at the Shelby County Fairgrounds in Sidney, Ohio. on November 6, 2010. The match was contested by American Kickboxer II aka Brandon Overholser, Dark Angel aka Mike White, DJ Tom Sharp aka Tom Crone, Logan Cross aka Logan Jones, Sid Fabulous aka Mark Easterday, and "Lightning" Tim Lutz. (credit:Guinness World Records)
Longest Time Controlling A Soccer Ball While Lying Down(07 of08)
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The record for the longest time controlling a soccer ball whilst lying down is 10 min and 4 sec and was achieved by Tomas Lundman (Sweden) at the Nordstan Shopping Mall, in Gothenburg, Sweden on November 24, 2007. (credit:Guinness World Records)
Most Items Kicked Off Heads In One Minute(08 of08)
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The most items kicked off people's heads in one minute is 43 and was achieved by Zara Phythian (UK) on the set of Guinness World Records Smashed, at Pinewood Studios, UK, on March 25, 2009. (credit:Guinness World Records)
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